Packages of meat or produce are generally wrapped in a transparent wrap and labeled after weighing. Upon completion of labeling, they drop from a conveyor into a rotary package-collecting bin. If the package contains red meat with some liquid blood at the bottom of the tray, and if that package flips over as it drops into the bin, the blood may run to the transparent top of the wrapped package and the package may appear unsightly when displayed for sale. In addition, corners of the packages are sometimes damaged from the drop.
One version of apparatus including a bin is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,627 issued in my name on Sept. 23, 1975. Packages are retrieved from the filled bin, hand-stacked into platters, and the platters either hand or cart-carried to the display area for customer selection. This handling is often done by some of the more high-priced help, such as butchers who function in the meat room of the supermarket, where a large percentage of wrapping and labeling is done. The cost of using a butcher for hand labor tasks not only increases the cost of operation of the supermarket, but also takes the butcher's time away from cutting meat. Productivity is thus hampered by the inefficient use of higher cost labor, especially when wrapping and labeling is required during peak shopping periods. The reduced productivity and added labor cost resulting from the hand removal of packages from a bin and transfer to platters has long been recognized, but little attention has been given to the problem, or if it has, no satisfactory solution has been found. Supermarkets continue to operate much the same way as they have for many years.